Report: Iranian Military Says it Shot Down U.S. Drone

Iranian military forces shot down an unmanned U.S. spy plane that violated Iranian airspace along the country's eastern border, state media reported Sunday.

"Iran's military has downed an intruding RQ-170 American drone in eastern Iran," Iran's Arabic-language Al Alam state television network quoted the unnamed source as saying, according to Reuters.

"The spy drone, which has been downed with little damage, was seized by the Iranian armed forces," the network reported.

The U.S. has not yet commented on the report.

Iran said in January that two pilotless spy planes it had shot down over its airspace were operated by the United States and offered to put them on public display.

The Islamic Republic holds frequent military drills, primarily to assert an ability to defend against a potential U.S. or Israeli attack on its nuclear facilities.

Tehran has focused part of its military strategy on producing drones for reconnaissance and attacking purposes.

Iran announced three years ago it had built an unmanned aircraft with a range of more than 600 miles (1,000 kilometers), far enough to reach Israel.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad unveiled the country's first domestically built unmanned bomber aircraft in August 2010, calling it an "ambassador of death" to Iran's enemies.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

This is a breaking news story. Updates will be added.